Tips for Blog Posts {Blogger Basics}

Welcome to the second post in my Blogger Basics series! Today, we'll tackle some tips for writing and publishing your blog posts.

Before we start, I'm just going to go ahead and admit that I'm talking to myself on a lot of these too! I'm working on getting better, but it takes time to get into new habits!

1. Find your Voice

As a teacher, sometimes I get stuck in "teacher mode" when it comes to writing, and my blog posts might start to sound like an essay. Your blog readers want to feel like they know you. This doesn't happen if your posts read like a grad school essay! So dig down deep, find your voice, and write like you're talking to a friend!

2. Choose your Title Wisely

If you're posting your links to Facebook, Bloglovin, Pinterest, or other social media (and you should be), your post title and thumbnail image are what will make readers click through to your post. We'll tackle graphics in another post. Here are some quick do's and don'ts for  your post titles.

Do:

• Keep it short and sweet
• Let it reflect the focus of your post
• Make it catchy, but not so much that readers can't tell what your post is about.

Don't:

• Title your post only by the linky you're participating in (Guilty!)
• Give your post a sentence-length title

3. Tag, Tag, Tag!

Once you've written your post, take a look at the right side of your window. See where it says
"labels?" Add some! This helps readers find content on your blog. Don't go too crazy, adding a dozen tags to every post, though. That will fill your sidebar up with labels instead of more important things you want your readers to see.

Take a look at the example on the right... This is a collaborative blog I am on, and we are working on fixing our tags. There are so many tags that it extends more than one full screen view - this is too many! Notice how many repeats there are... "Fun," "Fun Activities," and "Games." "Lower Elementary," "Primary," and "Primary Grades." These can (and should) be combined! Try and reuse the same tags over and over, rather than creating new ones. When readers click on a tag, they are taken to a page showing all of your posts with that tag. The more posts they see, the better!

I used to tag posts with the name of the linky I was participating in. Then it occurred to me that tags are not for me, they're for readers to find what they are looking for on my blog. And really, how many people are coming to my blog and looking to read all of my "Five for Friday" posts? Not many. I know if I'm looking for something on a blog, I'm looking for a specific topic. So be sure to tag all of the relevant topics in your posts, not necessarily each linky party.

4. Add a search description

On the right side, in the post settings, you will see "search description." Whatever you enter here will show up when someone sees your post in search results. Add a very short summary of each post to make it more attractive to those Googlers you want to attract to your blog.

If you don't add anything, readers will see the first few lines of your post. If you're starting your post with a greeting to your readers and something personal before you get to the "meat," that's what readers will see when they search.

Here's an example...
Before:

After adding a search description:

There you have it! Stay tuned for more "Blogger Basics" posts. If you have Blogger questions, leave them in the comments, and I'll try to answer them for you!